Ad Rotator
by Dmytro Shteflyuk · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 2 other plugins · 1.1K+ installs across the portfolio →
Ad Rotator is a simple widget to display random HTML code (advertisements) from a given group of HTML-chunks on sidebar.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
D 45/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
100+
≈160 estimated
Momentum
+3%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “ad” for “ad rotator”. “ad” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “ad rotator” sits at #16 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
45 health vs 56 average across 5,896 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.2%
of downloads still active
At least 100 of 45.1K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,188 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Admin & Utilities plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
High removal-risk signals
63/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Long abandoned. No update in 17+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 2.8.2, well behind 6.8.
Details
Recent review vibe
read from the latest 1 reviews to 2015-09-29The one recent review says it worked perfectly before but doesn't run on WordPress 4.3.1.
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Under-optimized
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 6302 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 2.8.2; the current branch is 6.8
5.0★ over 1 review, smoothed to 4.12★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 6302 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
Not enough tracked days yet to call a direction. Momentum needs at least three keywords measured a week or more apart.
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| ad rotator | #16 | #16 | 0 |
| ad your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| ads your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| advertisements your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| rotate your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| widget your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
2 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 1 listed. 1 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “ad” for “ad rotator”. “ad” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “ad rotator” sits at #16 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,487 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 110 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #13,300 to #16,400, alongside the other plugins at 100+ installs. Plugins with the same install count swap places between wp.org requests, so this is where most of them sit. Checked monthly, last on 21 Oct 2026.
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
No release in a yearHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
0
releases in the last 12 months
17.3y ago
latest release · v2.0.3 · 30 Jul 2009
5
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 100% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “100+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 6 months ago; the previous band took 14 months to cross, which places it about 61% of the way through.
Install history since 18 Jul 2018
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Anonymous11.1y ago
It used to work perfectly! Doesn’t seem to work with WordPress 4.3.1
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.2.4
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
7 of 8 pass · checked 29 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Ad Rotator is a simple widget to display random HTML code (advertisements) from a given group of HTML-chunk..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 4 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 4 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("if you have", "if you want", "suitable for").
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ✓ Headings and lists 3 headings and 1 list.
- ✓ Enough to quote 2,289 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "rotate" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-05-15 200+ → 100+ down after 432 days in tier
- 2025-03-09 300+ → 200+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2025-03-07 200+ → 300+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2025-03-04 300+ → 200+ down after 9 days in tier
- 2025-02-23 200+ → 300+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2025-02-22 300+ → 200+ down after 8 days in tier
- 2025-02-14 200+ → 300+ up after 74 days in tier
- 2024-12-02 300+ → 200+ down after 1 days in tier
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
Meks Easy Ads Widget 10K+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags C -
Image Widget 100K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
Fixed Widget and Sticky Elements for WordPress 70K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags D -
Ad Widget for WordPress 2K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags C -
The Moneytizer 1K+ installs · 3.8★ · 2 shared tags B -
AdWords Conversion Tracking Code 1K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Ad Rotator into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/ad-rotator" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Ad Rotator — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Ad Rotator: 100+ active installs, 5.0★ (1 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/ad-rotator
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